Flat door sill vault



FLAT DOOR SILL VAULT Filed March 10, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. J. LINGAL July 4, 1967 FLAT DOOR SILL VAULT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 10, 1966 United States Patent 3,329,106 FLAT DOOR SILL VAULT Harry J. Lingal, Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to The Mosler Safe Company, Hamilton, Ohio, a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 533,297 Claims. (Cl. 109-75) A inch to 1%. inches higher than the floor levels of the banks in which the vaults were installed. This difference was not a matter of architectural design but was dictated by security requirements of the installation. A secure vault required a cover over the gap between the bottom of the vault door and the vault floor sill to preclude the insertion of explosives beneath the door. This cover was provided by a lip or flange which depended from the front of the door and abutted against the floor sill plate when the door was closed. The height of this floor sill plate accounted for the /2 to 1 /2 inch difference in floor levels between the bank and the vault.

The primary difficulty with these variant floor levels derived from the necessity for a ramp or walkway to bridge the step between the bank .and the vault interior. This bridge, whether formed as a movable fold down part of the doorway or as a separate removable sheet steel plate, has always been a liability to the bank because of its potential as a safety hazard and its obstruction to the free flow of traffic through the vault door.

In my copending application, I disclose a flat sill vault doorway which has approximately the same degree of security as a raised floor sill vault. This doorway utilizes a rising floor sill plate operable to lift into a recess in the bottom of the door automatically as an incident to closing or locking of the door.

This invention represents a new approach to the concept of protecting -a fiat floor sill vault doorway against the unauthorized introduction of explosives or other foreign materials. Specifically, it utilizes a drop bar mounted in the base of the door and operable as an incident to closing or locking of the door to fill the gap between the bottom of the door and the top of the flat door sill.

One advantage of this doorway over the rising sill do-orway concept disclosed in my earlier application is that it enables all movable parts of the doorway to be mounted upon the vault door and secured to it. Thus, it avoids the necessity for mounting movable parts of the doorway in the bank or vault floor. It is thus a less expensive and more easily installed vault doorway system.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily apparent from the following description of the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a vault having the door open and the lock mechanism extended into its locked position,

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevational view of the door with the rear cove-r plate removed to expose the lock mechanism in its door locked position,

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of -a portion of the lock mechanism of FIGURE 2 but with the lock mechanism in the unlocked position, and- 3,329,106 Patented July 4, 1967 FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 2.

Refer-ring first to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the invention of this application is illustrated as applied to a vault door 10 which is mounted within a door frame 11 for pivotal movement about hinges 12. The door 10 comprises a solid steel front plate 13 upon the rear of which is mounted an enclosed lock mechanism housing 14. This housing comprises a pair of bolt support plates 15, 15, a top cover plate 16, a bottom plate 17 (FIGURE 4), and a rear cover plate 18. Bolts 19 of the lock mechanism extend through apertures 20 of both of the side plates 1'5, 15 and are receivable within bores 21 of the door frame 11 to secure the door in the locked position.

The door frame comprises door frame side plates 26, 27 and top plate 28. Surrounding this frame is a conventional decorative architrave 22 and-architrave trim strips 23, 24 and 25. A conventional inner security door or day gate 29 is secured to the rear of one of the door frame side plates.

The door frame also includes a steel base plate or door sill plate 30, the top surface 31 of which is located in the same horizontal plane as the floor 62 of the bank or building within which the vault is installed. The top surface of this plate 30 is also located in the same horizontal plane as the floor 33 of the vault. Thus, as opposed to traditional bank vaults which have an upward step into the bank vault, the vault of this invention has a smooth fiat walkway or door sill between the bank and the interior of the vault.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3, it will be seen that the lock mechanism of the door includes a pair of combination locks 35, 36 and a time lock 37. These locks are interconnected by a conventional linkage system 39 to a lock bolt 38. Upon actuation of the time lock and proper manipulation of either one or both of the combination locks, the linkage system 39 is operable to withdraw or throw the lock bolt 38. The combination locks and cooperating time lock are all part of a conventional lock assembly which forms no part of the invention of this application and therefore has not been described in etail.

As may be seen most clearly in FIGURE 2, four door bolts 19, 19a are provided on each side of the door. These bolts 19, 19a are slidably mounted within apertures 20 of the lock housing side plates 15, 15 and apertures 43 of vertical bolt bars 44, 44a. Each of the bolt bars 44, 44a is fixedly secured to the front plate 13 of the door and cooperates with one of the lock housing side plates 15, 15 to support one set of door bolts 19, 19a.

Lateral movement of the door bolts 19, 19a is controlled by a pair of laterally movable bolt operating tie bars 47, 47a. Each of these bars 47, 47a, is bolted to one set of the door bolts 19, 19a respectively, so that lateral movement of the bolt operating tie bars effects lateral movement of the door bolts 19, 19a.

To effect lateral movement of the bolt operating bars 47, 47a, each is bolted to one end of a pair of horizontally extending rack bars 48, 48a respectively. The opposite ends of these rack bars is slidably supported between a pair of brackets secured to the rear of the front door plate 13. Horizontal movement of the racks 48, 48a is controlled :by a pair of pinions 49, 49a rotatably supported upon stu'b shafts 51. These shafts extend rearwardly from and are secured to the [front plate 13 of the door. The pinions 49, 49a mesh with horizontal racks on the tops of the rack bars 48, 48a, as well as with vertically extending racks defined in the edges of a pair of vertically movable bolt operating bars 50, 50a respectively. These latter bolt operating bars are supported for vertical movement upon bolts 52 which extend through vertical slots 53 in the bars and are threaded into the rear of the door front plate 13.

Vertical movement of the bolt operating bars 50, 50a is controlled by manual movement of a handle 40 mounted upon the front of the door and connected by a handle shaft 58 to one 56 of a pair of meshing spur gears 56, 57. The gear 56 is nonrotatably keyed to the shaft 58 which extends through the front plate 13 of the door so that rotation of the handle 40 effects rotation of the spur gear 56. Since the gear 57 meshes with gear 56 and is rotatably journalled upon an idler shaft 55 mounted on the front plate 13, rotation of the gear 56 results in synchronous rotation of the spur gear 57. The gear 57 meshes with a rack 59 on the vertical bolt operating bar 50 and similarly the spur gear 56 meshes with teeth of a rack 60 on the bolt operating bar 500. Thus, rotation of the handle 40 simultaneously effects vertical movement of both of the vertically movable bolt operating bars 50, 50a. This motion is transmitted through the pinions 49, 49a to the rack bars 48, 48a, and from the rack bars 48, 48a to the bolt tie bars 47, 47a and thus to the connected bolts 19, 19a.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 4, it will be seen that a drop bar 65 is bolted to the bottom of the vertically movable bolt operating bars 50, 50a. This bar 65 is accommodated for vertical movement within a recess or notch 66 cut from the rear bottom corner of the front plate 13 of the door 10. This recess 66, together with the drop bar 65, extend across the full width of the door so that when the bar is lowered into its door locked position, it completely closes and seals the gap between the bottom of the door and the top 31 of the sill plate 30'.

If so desired, the interconnection between the vertically movable bolt operating bars 50, 50a and the drop bar 65 may be made adjustable so as to facilitate adjustment of the drop bar relative to the top of the sill plate. In this way the height and angulation of the drop bar 65 may be adjusted relative to the top of the sill plate after installation. Alternatively, a thin strip of resilient material 67 may be attached to the bottom of the drop bar so as to make an air tight seal with the sill plate 30 when the bolts are thrown or extended.

In operation, the door is opened by first manipulating one or both of the combination locks 35, 36 so as to effect withdrawal of the lock bolt 38 from the notch 34 of the vertical bolt operating bar 50a. With the bolt 38 Withdrawn from the notch 34, the bolt operating bar 50a is free for vertical movement upon rotation of the handle 40 in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG- URES 2. and 3. Rotation of the handle in the counterclockwise direction effects upward movement of the bolt operating bars 50, 50a through the interaction of the spur gears 56, 57 with their associated racks 60, 59 respectively. Upward movement of the bars 50, 50a in turn effects rotation of the pinions 49, 49a, respectively and thus lateral movement of the rack bars 48, 48a. As these latter bars 48, 48a move inwardly, they carry with them the tie bars 47, 47a to which the door bolts 19, 19a are secured, causing the bolts to be withdrawn from the bores or apertures 21 in the door frame side plates 26, 27. Upward movement of the bolt operating bars 50, 50a also causes the drop bar 65 to be lifted upwardly out of engagement with the sill plate 13 so as to enable the door to freely swing open.

To lock the door, it is closed and the handle 40 rotated in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 3. This effects downward movement of the bolt operating bars 50, 50a together with the attached drop bar 65. Simultaneously, downward movement of the bolt operating bars 50, 50a effects lateral movement of the bolts 19, 19a outwardly and into the apertures or bores 21 of the door frame side plates 26, 27. When the door bolts 19, 19a are fully extended so that the drop bar 65 is located in engagement with the top of the sill plate 31,

the dials (not shown) of the combination locks may be manipulated in the conventional manner to throw the lock bolt 38 and thus move it into the notch 34 of the bolt operating bar 50a. So long as this lock bolt 38 is extended, the handle 40 cannot be rotated and thus a forced entry cannot be made into the vault.

As will now be readily obvious, the drop bar and interconnected 'bolt work of this invention provides a very secure vault door while eliminating the necessity for a step between the bank or building floor and the interior of the vault. Because the drop bar is interconnected with the door lock mechanism, it is automatically moved into its extended position (in which it closes and secures the gap between the bottom of the door and the top of the door sill plate) as an incident to locking of the door. There is no possibility that the door may ever be locked without simultaneously effecting a closing and sealing of the clearance gap beneath the bottom of the door.

While only a single preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein, those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will readily appreciate numerous changes and modifications which may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. As an example, the drop bar may be actuated by independent motors such as the hydraulic, electrical, or penumatic motors disclosed in my copending application, of which this application is a continuation-in-part. Alternatively, the drop bar might be actuated as an incident to closing of the door rather than locking. Therefore, I do not intend to be limited except by the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A walk-in vault adapted to be permanently installed in a building, said vault having an interior floor located in the same horizontal plane as the floor of the building in which the vault is installed,

said vault having a doorway and doorway frame, said doorway frame including a fixedly mounted floor sill plate having a top surface located in the same horizontal plane as said vault floor and said building floor,

a vault door hingedly attached to one side of said doorway frame, said vault door partially defining a clearance gap between the bottom of said door and the top of said sill plate when said door is closed, said door including a recess defined in the bottom thereof,

locking mechanism operatively associated with said door and doorway and operable to secure said door in a closed position within said doorway,

a drop bar mounted for vertical movement in said door recess, said drop bar extending across the full width of said door, and

a vertically movable member interconnecting said locking mechanism and said drop bar and operable as an incident to locking of said door to lower said drop bar so as to close said clearance gap and operable as an incident to unlocking of said door to raise said drop bar and thus establish said clearance gap.

2. A walk-in vault adapted to be permanently installed in a building, said vault having an interior floor located in the same horizontal plane as the floor of the building in which the vault is installed,

said vault having a doorway and doorway frame, said doorway frame including a fixedly mounted floor sill plate having a top surface located in the same horizontal plane as said vault floor and said building floor,

a vault door hingedly attached to one side of said doorway, said vault door partially defining a clearance gap between the bottom of said door and the top of .said sill plate when said door is closed, said door including a recess defined in the bottom thereof,

locking mechanism operatively associated with said door and doorway frame and operable to secure said door in a closed position within said doorway,

a drop bar mounted for vertical movement in said door recess, said drop bar extending across the full width of said door, and

movable means operable as an incident to locking of said door to lower said drop bar into engagement with the top of said floor sill plate so as to close said clearance gap and operable as an incident to unlocking of said door to raise said drop bar'and thus establish said clearance gap.

3. The vault of claim 2 wherein said locking mechanism comprises a plurality of door bolts mounted upon said door and movable from a retracted position within said door to an extended position in which said bolts extend beyond the sides of said door and into bolt receiving recesses defined in said doorway frame.

4. The vault of claim 3 wherein said locking mechanism further comprises a handle mounted upon the front of said door, at least one vertically movable bolt operation bar operatively connected to said handle such that rotation of said handle effects vertical movement of said bar, vertically extending rack teeth fixedly secured to said bolt operating bar, at least one horizontally movable rack bar mounted upon said door and having horizontally extending rack teeth, a pinion interconnected between said vertically extending rack teeth and said horizontally extending rack teeth such that vertical movement of said bolt operation bar effects horizontal movement of said rack bar, and means interconnecting said horizontal rack bar and said door bolts.

5. The vault of claim 3 wherein said drop bar movable means comprises said vertically movable bolt operation bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 149,193 3/ 1874 Briggs 29239 282,208 7/ 188 3 McCurdy 49306 1,600,982 9/1926 Golloway 292-39 2,387,172 10/ 1945 Mosler 10974 3,223,057 12/ 1965 Lin-gal 109-74 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner. 

1. A WALK-IN VAULT ADAPTED TO BE PERMANENTLY INSTALLED IN A BUILDING, SAID VAULT HAVING AN INTERIOR FLOOR LOCATED IN THE SAME HORIZONTAL PLANE AS THE FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN WHICH THE VAULT IS INSTALLED, SAID VAULT HAVING A DOORWAY AND DOORWAY FRAME, SAID DOORWAY FRAME INCLUDING A FIXEDLY MOUNTED FLOOR SILL PLATE HAVING A TOP SURFACE LOCATED IN THE SAME HORIZONTAL PLANE AS SAID VAULT FLOOR AND SAID BUILDING FLOOR, A VAULT DOOR HINGEDLY ATTACHED TO ONE SIDE OF SAID DOORWAY FRAME, SAID VAULT DOOR PARTIALLY DEFINING A CLEARANCE GAP BETWEEN THE BOTTOM OF SAID DOOR AND THE TOP OF SAID SILL PLATE WHEN SAID DOOR IS CLOSED, SAID DOOR INCLUDING A RECESS DEFINED IN THE BOTTOM THEREOF, LOCKING MECHANISM OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID DOOR AND DOORWAY AND OPERABLE TO SECURE SAID DOOR IN A CLOSED POSITION WITHIN SAID DOORWAY, A DROP BAR MOUNTED FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT IN SAID DOOR RECESS, SAID DROP BAR EXTENDING ACROSS THE FULL WIDTH OF SAID DOOR, AND A VERTICALLY MOVABLE MEMBER INTERCONNECTING SAID LOCKING MECHANISM AND SAID DROP BAR AND OPERABLE AS AN INCIDENT TO LOCKING OF SAID DOOR TO LOWER SAID DROP BAR SO AS TO CLOSE SAID CLEARANCE GAP AND OPERABLE AS AN INCIDENT TO UNLOCKING OF SAID DOOR TO RAISE SAID DROP BAR AND THUS ESTABLISH SAID CLEARANCE GAP. 